Feb 2023 - Side Story (Patreon)

Hey guys 👋 Here's the side story for the month of February. It's around 4.2K words long and it's written in Ash's POV about how they first truly befriended MC 😊 I hope you guys enjoy it!

I also still have one more side story for this month, and it's the spicy side story. So, stay tuned for that 😄

* * * * *

“Hey, Ash,” you hear your mom calling for you. “Are you ready, baby? We’re going to be late!”

“Yeah, Mom,” you call back unenthusiastically before sighing and stepping out of your room. You’re not exactly enthused about having to interact and hang out with the other kids in the daycare, but your mom has to do something important today.

“There you are,” she says. “Why the gloomy face? I thought you’d be happy to meet other kids. Maybe even make a friend or two?”

“Urgh, Mom,” you whine at your mother’s optimism, crossing your arms.  “I’ve told you, the other kids don’t really like me and most of them are scared of me, somehow. Also, I’m six. I’m like, one of the oldest kids in the daycare!”

She pinches your cheek fondly, which makes you let out a noise of complaint. “I know you can get a bit grumpy at times. But you’re such an angel and you’ll always be my little baby,” she coos. “And don’t worry. Sasha will be there today. You remember them, right?”

You nod. Yeah, you remember Sasha. They are your mother’s good friend’s child and are two years younger than you. You’ve met them every now and then whenever your mom meets up with their dad, but haven’t really tried making friends with them seriously, mostly because you haven’t been able to discern their babbles most of the time.

“Well, maybe you can finally be friends with them,” your mom says. “They’re a really good kid. Kind-hearted and understanding, just like their dad. So, just stick to them if you don’t really want to talk to anyone else.”

“Alright… I hope they won’t end up hating me or getting scared of me too,” you mumble.

“Trust me. They won’t,” she smiles softly, patting your hair fondly. “Now, let’s go.” She helps you put on your backpack before handing you a small helmet.

Half an hour later…

Your mom pulls into the daycare’s parking lot, turns off the engine, and pulls down her bike’s stand. You hop off the bike, your shoes hitting the pavement with a thump before you take off the suffocating helmet. It’s another sunny summer day and just because you can’t feel the heat, it doesn’t mean that you can’t feel the humidity in the air, making your skin a bit sticky.

Getting off her bike, your mom takes your helmet from your hand and puts it away. She then takes your hand and walks you over to the entrance. You know she always makes sure to at least accompany you to the classroom no matter how busy she is.

As you near the usual classroom, you notice two familiar figures in the hallway. Oh, it’s Sasha and their dad. You gotta admit, it’s adorable how small Sasha is compared to their really tall dad. Uncle Viktor—you’re still not sure whether he’s really related to your mom, but she told you to call him that and he didn’t mind—is crouched down in front of Sasha and even then, Sasha still has to look up a bit to meet his eyes.

“Ash, this is Sasha’s first day in daycare. I know I’ve told you to stick to them, but it’s not only for you to try making friends with them. I also hope that because they’re more familiar with you, they’ll have a better time and that you’ll be able to help watch over them,” your mom whispers as she steers both of your paths toward them. You nod.

Uncle Viktor seems to notice you and your mom approaching and he beams as he waves. “Hey, Cara, Ash!” he greets before glancing at Sasha and saying quietly, “There, I told you they’ll be here. No need to worry.”

Sasha turns and sends you such a bright smile that it makes your pouting relax a bit. “Good morning Ash, Aunt Cara!” They wave their little arm wildly.

“Hey,” you mutter quietly in response. How can they be so cheerful in the morning?

“Now that Ash is here, are you ready to get inside, Sasha?” Uncle Viktor asks and Sasha nods eagerly. He takes them up into his arms and gives them a kiss on the forehead before setting them down again.

Without any warning, Sasha takes your hand in theirs and starts dragging you into the classroom. “Bye, Dad. Bye, Aunt Cara!”

“Have a good day, you two!” your mom exclaims. “And Ash, be good, okay?”

You don’t really have any chance to reply to your mom as you’re already inside the classroom and Sasha is still pulling your hand, picking out a table near the middle. The two of you take a seat side by side and as you set your backpack down on the floor, Sasha is rummaging through theirs.

“I wanna show you something cool,” they mutter before they finally pull out a hardcover book and show it to you. “101 Dinosaurs” the title reads and you can see that it must’ve been a pretty expensive book from the cover alone, your hand tracing the glossy film embossed over the title and the dinosaur pics. “My dad just bought it for me a few days ago! Go on, open it!” They hand the book to you.

You do so and are immediately met with beautiful pop-ups of dinosaurs. “Whoa,” you say. “This is cool.”

“I know right!” Sasha giggles. “That one is my favorite!” They point at a dinosaur with a big half-circle spine on its back. “I have other ones, but for this page, it’s…” They cock their head as they try to read the dinosaur’s name. “Spinosaurus!”

You nod approvingly as you inspect the pop-up. “It looks fierce. But not as fierce as T-Rex! It’s my favorite!”

“Oh, good choice, good choice,” Sasha says and soon you’re having a nice conversation with them, talking about dinosaurs and checking out the book together. You almost don’t realize when the teacher comes in, spurring Sasha to close the book and put it back into their backpack.

She’s bringing a book in her hand for story time—which, you honestly think you’re too old for by now, but Sasha grabs your hand again and drags you to where the other kids have started to sit on the carpeted floor around the teacher. You know you should be feeling irritated by how Sasha seems to be content to drag you around, but you don’t. It’s actually quite the opposite. For the first time, you don’t feel so alone in this room and it feels good to have someone to talk to.

An Hour Later…

The storytime is over and right now, all of you are given the task to draw a character or a scene from the story you just listened to. Sasha seems to be really excited about the project and they pull out one of those big cases of crayons, the one with more shades of colors in it.

After accidentally melting and breaking one of the kids’ crayons before and making them upset, you’ve always resorted to just using the ones provided by the school. Even though they’re not that good and are obviously cheap. You’ve never really cared about this kind of art project anyway. You stand up and bring some of the supplied crayons over to the table you’re sharing with Sasha. But before you can even begin drawing, Sasha stops you.

“Wait, Ash!” they suddenly exclaim. “Don’t use those! They’re no good! Please, use mine instead.” They push their crayon case closer to you.

“A—Are you sure? I don’t want to accidentally ruin your crayons,” you warn them.

“No need to worry about that,” Sasha says nonchalantly before returning their focus to their picture, their tongue sticking out adorably in concentration.

You shrug as you grab a red crayon from the case. Wow, Sasha’s crayons do glide better on the paper and the colors are more vibrant. The next few minutes, you’re also getting absorbed in your drawing. You’re pretty sure this will be your masterpiece for the week—no, the whole month even. As you reach out to return the crayon you’ve been using for the past minute or so, you notice that the crayon is now a bit bent and malformed, undoubtedly from the heat of your hand. You glance at your right hand and… yup, there’s the color clearly smudged on your palm.

“Uh…” you say nervously.

Sasha turns with a quizzical look on their face. “What’s wrong—” Their eyes finally snap to the deformed crayon you’re still holding. Oh no… Here comes the moment where they’ll get mad at me or hate me or don’t want to talk to me anymore or—

But none of those come. Instead, Sasha grins before they start giggling. You don’t really know what to do with the reaction, so you just say the most sensible thing to say, “Um… I’m sorry…?”

They shake their head lightly. “It’s okay. I’m sorry for laughing, but it’s just, I’ve never seen a crayon that looks like that. I think it’s funny.” You glance at the crayon and indeed, it looks almost like a wobbly line as your fingers’ pressure and heat deform the previously straight crayon.

“Y—You’re not mad? Or upset?” you ask, shock evident as you feel your jaw goes a bit slack.

“No. Why would I? I can still use the crayon and even if I couldn’t, I won’t mind. You’ve warned me before and I still said yes because you’re my friend!” they explain as they beam at you.

You blink. “D—Do you mean that? T—That I’m your friend?” Your voice is almost breathless.

“Of course! We’re friends—best friends forever!” They reach out their pinky finger to you. “Promise!”

You’re flabbergasted. You’ve seen some other kids doing the gesture before, but no one ever has the interest to do it with you—to be fair, you’ve never really spoken too much with them. You’re glad that Sasha will be your first pinky promise ever and you feel your mouth tug into a big grin as you lock your pinkie with theirs.

“Best friend forever,” you confirm, before admitting shyly, “You’re my first friend, you know…” This all still feels surreal to you.

“Don’t worry, it’s the same with me too!” they chirp cheerfully, which makes you smile again. Man, your cheeks ache a bit from how much you’ve smiled today. But you don’t really care because it’s incomparable to the feeling of elatedness of finally having a friend. What’s better is because your mom and Sasha’s dad are close friends, you can maybe spend more time with them and have sleepovers and stuff.

The two of you continue talking about random stuff as you continue drawing and coloring. This is already the best day you’ve had all week and it’s not even 12 o’clock yet.

Break Time…

With the clear and sunny sky, it is no wonder that the teacher is ushering and encouraging everyone to go outside to the playground to eat, play, and hang out. Usually, you would rather stay inside the class to get some alone time because none of the other younger students dare to approach them.

You’re not really sure why but your mom once suggested that maybe you should try smiling more often. You did that for one day and the only results you got were weird looks thrown your way. Never again.

But this time, you join Sasha outside. The two of you are sitting on the swings side-by-side and Sasha is pulling out their pop-up dinosaur book again to continue the exciting discussion you two were having this morning before the teacher rudely interrupted with a boring storytime.

Honestly, you’d rather talk about cool dinosaurs with Sasha than hear about some stupid fairy tales. But Sasha was eager enough to listen to the story, so it all worked out in the end. Kinda.

Sasha is turning the pages and you see two children approaching the two of you, glancing nervously at you. Oh, they must’ve wanted to use the swing. Not today. You send them a glare and they quickly turn away with their tails tucked. Sasha doesn’t even notice, which may be good because you have the feeling that they’ll happily give their seat to the other kids.

“Oh, here’s where we left off,” Sasha chirps, bringing your attention away from the playground and the rowdy kids back to them. The two of you fall back into the flow of banter and conversation; it happens so smoothly and naturally as if you have done this together for years.

You’re about to pull out the sandwich your mom packed for you this morning when you see a girl walking toward the two of you accompanied by two other kids. You groan inside; this is not just any girl, this is Karen, the class’ darling and spoiled girl only because her parents are rich.

Undeterred by your glare, she continues striding confidently until she and her cronies stand in front of you and Sasha, but their attention is more focused on Sasha. She clears her throat haughtily and Sasha finally looks up from their book.

“Oh, hi! Do you want to use the swing?” they ask innocently.

“No,” she scoffs. “You’re the new kid, right? Say… That’s a cool-looking book you have there. Do you mind if I borrow it?”

“Now?” Sasha frowns.

“Yeah, dummy. When else?” she sneers, hands on her hips.

“Uh, sorry. I’m still using this with Ash,” Sasha says, scratching the back of their head. “How about ten more minutes and then you can borrow it.”

“No. Don’t you hear what I said? I said I want it now!” she whines. “Why are you hanging out with this… weirdo anyway?” She gestures at you. “No one will want to be your friend if you’re friends with them, including me.”

Sasha snarls, “Ash is not a weirdo! And I don’t want to be friends with you or anyone else if this is how you treat Ash!” They shake their little fist in indignation.

Karen’s face twists in anger. “Then your loss! You’re a weirdo too!” She yells as she reaches over and tries to grab the book on Sasha’s lap, but Sasha quickly grabs onto it too and she ends up tearing one of the pages off. Sasha stares at the torn page, the once beautiful pop-up on the page is ruined beyond salvation.

You see their mouth quiver and then their pretty grey eyes begin to water before they finally wail. Your heart falls before it’s quickly set ablaze. How dare this… this poopyhead makes such a kind person like Sasha cry! And ruin such an expensive and beautiful book too!

Enraged, you don’t even realize what you’ve done until a high-pitched cry—not Sasha’s—cuts through the red haze clouding your vision. Looking down, you see that you’ve gotten to your feet and that Karen is now sprawled on the ground, bawling her eyes out. It seems like she has fallen face-first into the dirt and grass, her previously beautiful and obviously expansive, light pink dress is now dirty and ruined with clumps of dirt smeared on its soft velvety surface.

You don’t even have enough time to fully comprehend what just happened when the teacher comes over, quickly helping get Karen to her feet and fussing over her clothes and messed-up ponytails, her face creased with worry and stress.

“Ash! You’re coming with me. Right now,” she says sternly, holding out her hand. You sigh as you grab your backpack and stuff your sandwich back in it. Sending an apologetic look at Sasha, you see them looking at you with worry in their still teary eyes.

“Ash…” the teacher repeats, and you follow her lead.

Inside the classroom…

You stare at the floor sullenly as the teacher keeps talking to you. “Ash… You have been causing trouble for the other students for quite a while now. A few days ago, you ruined Sophia’s crayons and a week ago, you broke George’s toy and today… you shoved Karen to the ground.”

“Sophia and George were accidents! I didn’t mean to do it!” you complain. “But Karen deserved it! She ripped Sasha’s book and she called me a weirdo!”

“But that doesn’t mean you had to resort to violence and shoved her so hard,” she insists disapprovingly. “Her arms and knees are scraped, you know.”

“Good.” You nod in satisfaction, crossing your arms.

She gasps in horror. “Ash! That’s not an okay thing to say! No matter what she did.”

No, you still think Karen’s got what’s coming to her. And then you remember what your mom said once, about how Karen is treated special because her parents are one of the rich people of the city. So, you say that. “You always defend Karen because her parents are rich. That’s what my mom said too.”

Now she looks totally flabbergasted, her mouth opens and closes like a fish, which would have made you at least snort if it wasn’t for the injustice happening right now. “That’s it. I’m calling your mother to have a talk with her about your behavior,” she hisses as she stands up. “Now, you’re grounded here until the break is over while I go check on Karen.”

She walks to the door, steps out of the room, and then locks it behind her. You sigh, banging your head against the plastic table with a dull thud. Letting your head lie on the table for a while, you close your eyes and listen to the faint cheerful peals of laughter and joy from the other kids playing without a care outside under the summer sun. The only regret you have for pushing Karen is that you can’t spend time with Sasha for the rest of the break. They must be lonely…

Suddenly, you hear knocks on the window, making you jolt. Raising your head, you glance around before seeing a little hand waving at you from one of the windows and glimpses of platinum blond hair and grey eyes as Sasha jumps over and over again to get your attention. You quickly get to your feet and run over to them, unlocking and opening the window.

You’re about to reach down to hold out your hands and try to help pull Sasha up over the windowsill when they suddenly begin floating, so instead, you grasp their hands and pull them inside. Just as suddenly as they get in the air, they start dropping back down. You panic as Sasha falls on you and the two of you are sprawled on the carpeted floor.

They quickly get off you, grabbing their backpack and offering their hand to help you get up. You don’t really need it, but you take it anyway.

“Thanks,” you say, before asking, “How did you do that? You can control the air?”

“My dad said it’s called gra—gravi… something,” they chuckle bashfully. “Sorry, forgot the exact name. But he told me it’s different from the air.” They shrug. “How about you? Do you have any power?”

You nod eagerly before exclaiming, “I can control fire!” You decide to conjure a little flame on the tip of your forefinger and Sasha ‘ooh’s before quickly putting it out before an accident happens.

The two of you walk back to your table. “What are you doing here, Sasha? You’re not grounded,” you mutter as the two of you sit down.

“I’m here to be with you!” they chirp and even though they’re trying to be cheerful, you can still see the traces of sadness in their still watery eyes and occasional sniffles. They pull a bento box out of their backpack. “I wanna share some of my lunch with you.” They open the container and your eyes widen at the many different types of food inside.

“Whoa,” you breathe out.

“I know right? My dad woke up early to make extras so I can share it with you or any other new friends I make,” they explain. “Go ahead! Take any that you want!”

You grab and munch on a piece of sausage. The next few minutes are spent in comfortable silence as the two of you eat together. You try not to take too much from Sasha’s lunch since you still have your sandwich tucked away. But the bento is so good though… Stop it, Ash. See how small Sasha is? They definitely need it more, you tell yourself.

After the bento is completely annihilated in record time by the two of you, you decide to take out your PB&J sandwich and rip it in two, giving the one half to Sasha who takes it gratefully.

There’s a faraway and pensive look to them as they take small bites of the sandwich, which makes your heart twinge in sympathy. “I’m sorry about your book…” you say quietly.

Sasha turns to you in confusion. “It’s not your fault.”

Shaking your head lightly, you explain, “I should’ve stepped in as soon as I saw her approaching. I should’ve known better that she would bring nothing but problems.”

“No… Don’t say that,” Sasha says softly. “She’s just being a meanie…”

Suddenly, you get an idea. “Do you have the ripped pages with you?”

Sasha nods. “Why?”

“Do you want to try gluing the pages together? It won’t fix the book, but at least it might make it a bit better,” you suggest.

They perk up and nod before quickly finishing the sandwich in their hand, you also do the same. Sasha bends down to grab their backpack, pulling out the book and setting it on the table before rummaging into the backpack’s pockets to grab a stick of glue. The two of you open the most damaged page. The previously smooth paper is now wrinkled and the beautiful pop-ups are ruined beyond salvation.

The two of you don’t really know where to start, honestly. Grabbing the torn-up pieces, you try to awkwardly fit them to where they’re supposed to go like some messed up jigsaw puzzle. It’s not too successful, to say the least.

“Umm…” Sasha says, glue in their hand.

Suddenly, the door clicks open and the two of you jolt in your seats. “Okay, Ash—Hey! What are you doing here?”

“Uh—I just thought Ash would be lonely and…” Sasha stammers. “Do you want me to leave?”

The teacher sighs, “It’s okay. That’s sweet of you. The break is over anyway. But before I’m calling all the kids in, Ash, I can’t get hold of your mother so we’ll have the talk later on, okay? Don’t think that you’re already out of trouble.” She then leaves the two of you to go shepherd the kids inside.

A few hours later…

Finally, Sasha’s father is here to pick them up and to your surprise, he’s also picking you up on behalf of your mom. It seems like your mom’s work is taking longer than she expected. Well, not that you’re complaining; you’d be more than happy to spend more time with Sasha.

“So, how is your day, kids?” Uncle Viktor asks as he holds both your and Sasha’s hands.

“Not too good, Dad,” Sasha admits quietly, hanging their head.

Uncle Viktor stops in his tracks, halting you and Sasha as well. He crouches and lifts Sasha’s face softly. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“M—My dinosaur book is ruined!” they blurt out before the tears start streaming again. “T—This girl, she wanted to borrow it but I was reading it with Ash. S—So, I said later but she got angry and then—and then… she grabbed my book and pulled it!”

Uncle Viktor frowns before his face contorts in anger. “Who’s this girl?”

“Her name is Karen,” you quickly tell him. “I don’t really know her last name but my mom said her parents are rich people and that’s why the teacher treated her special.”

“I’m going to have a talk with the caretaker,” he growls but then Sasha throws themself to his dad, burying their face in his chest, which stops Uncle Viktor on his track.

“Can we just go for now, Dad? I don’t wanna go back in there today,” they sniffle. “I think Karen has gotten what she deserved when Ash shoved her to the ground.”

Uncle Viktor glances at you, making you fidget in place. “Um… Sorry, I just kinda lost it when I saw what she did to Sasha,” you mumble and steel yourself for a scolding or a stern talking to at least.

But instead, Uncle Viktor pats you on the head gently and smiles. “Thank you for defending Sasha. I appreciate it. But still, I’ll have a talk later on, but not today,” he sighs before picking Sasha up in his arms, standing up, and continuing your walk towards his parked car. “How about we go to the comic store, hm? I’ll buy you a new pop-up book instead,” he coos at Sasha. “And of course, Ash can choose whichever book they want to, as well.”

Sasha’s face lights up, even though their eyes are still teary. “Really?! Yay!” They pump their little fist. “And—And then, can we go get some ice cream too?”

Uncle Viktor boops Sasha’s nose which makes them giggle. “Of course! And double-scoop for each of you and Ash too.”

“Whoa! Thank you, Uncle Vik!” you exclaim. Seems like this day is not all bad like you’ve feared. Moreover, you finally have a friend—no, more than that, a best friend, the most special friend and that makes your heart soar to the seventh sky. You swear you’ll never let go of Sasha—and you hope they also do the same for you.